Lithuania 2022

Lithuania

Date of Issue: 29th April 2022

two stamps (2x 0.95 €)

 

both stamps are issued mini-sheets of 10 stamps

Eglė žalčių karalienė - Eglė the Queen of Serpents is a Lithuanian folk tale, first published by M. Jasewicz in 1837. Eglė the Queen of Serpents is one of the best-known Lithuanian fairy tales with many references to the Baltic mythology. 

One warm summer day, Eglė, the youngest daughter of a local farmer, went bathing in the sea with her two sisters. Afterwards, returning to the shore to get dressed, she found a serpent in her clothes. To her surprise, the serpent spoke to her in a man's voice and demanded that she promise to become his wife for the return of her clothes. Faced with an immediate need to get dressed and not thinking about possible future consequences, Eglė agreed.

Three days later a great number of serpents pulling a wagon showed up at Eglė's parents' farm to claim the bride. Eglė's family tried to trick the serpents by giving them one of their farm animals, but each time a cuckoo warned the serpents about the deception. Finally, wise to the trickery, serpents succeeded in taking Eglė with them to their master.

At the seashore they were met by Žilvinas, a handsome young man, the Serpent King, who took Eglė to a nearby island and then to his palace under the sea, where they wed. Eglė and Žilvinas lived together happily and had three sons, Ažuolas, Uosis and Beržas, and a daughter, Drebulė, their youngest.

One day the children started asking about their mother's former home. Eglė became homesick and asked Žilvinas to allow her and the children to visit her parents' farm. Žilvinas was against it and set a number of what he thought were impossible conditions - to spin a never diminishing amout of silk, to wear out a pair of iron shoes, and to bake a pie without kitchen utensils. Eglė, however, with the help of a local sorceress, was able to accomplish them and Žilvinas had to allow Eglė and the children to go.

The reunion with the family was such a happy event that Eglė's family did not want to let them return to the sea and decided to kill Žilvinas. But first, they needed to know how to get Žilvinas to appear from the sea.They demanded that the children reveal the family secret. Sensing danger, the sons refused to comply, but the youngest daughter Drebulė became frightened and revealed the secret call.

Eglė's twelve brothers rushed to the seashore, called Žilvinas, who appeared in serpent form, and killed him with scythes.

Not knowing her husband's fate and ending her stay with her parents, brothers, and sisters, Eglė returned to the seashore and called Žilvinas. In reply only a bloody foam appeared.

In her grief, after she realized that Žilvinas was dead, Eglė transformed her family into trees - her sons into an oak, an ash and a birch, her daughter into a trembling aspen, and herself into a spruce. Source Lithaz.org

Paparčio žiedas - The fern flower - In the Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian tradition, the fern flower is supposed to appear only on the night of 23 to 24 June during the celebration of the summer solstice. The celebration has pre-Christian origins. In addition to the idea that the finder of the fern flower will become rich or happy, here, the fern flower is sometimes perceived a symbol of fertility. During this supposedly magical night, young couples go into the woods "seeking the fern flower", which is most commonly read as a euphemism for sex. Source Wikipedia

Here the top 3 designs with the 2 designs who didn't make it. Source

 

Luxembourg 2022

Luxembourg

Date of Issue: 17th May 2022

two stamps (L50g & E50g value = 0.80 & 1.05 €)

both stamps are issued in mini-sheets of 10 stamps

 

Kropemann - Originally, the Kropemann was a nature spirit who lived in rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, springs, weirs or wells. According to legend, he caught those children with his Kropestaang (hooked pole) who dared to get too close to the water, pulled them in and devoured them or held them captive. Until 1950, the Kropemann was known (and feared) throughout the country. As creepy as his story sounds, many parents in Luxembourg used the warning of the Kropemann to keep their children away from dangerous waters and shores and to protect them. 30 years ago, the legend was rediscovered in Redingen, and since then the Kropemann has become firmly associated with the municipality, its mascot, so to speak and is present all year round in the form of various sculptures. Every year a big festival is held in his honour where he makes his appearance in front of numerous visitors visitors - nowadays as a children's friend - and also promotes the cleanliness of water and nature.

Melusina - According to legend, Melusina was the wife of Count Siegfried I, who is considered the founder of Luxembourg. In 963, the count built his castle on the Bock rock above the Alzette for his beautiful wife, because she had set him two conditions before agreeing to marry her: she did not want to leave the Alzette valley and she wanted to be alone undisturbed every Saturday noon. After a few years, instigated by friends, Siegfried's curiosity is said to have tempted him to watch his wife through the keyhole one Saturday and discover that her legs had turned into a fish's tail. His cry betrayed him and Melusina disappeared into the Alzette. To this day, it is said that she appears every 7 years, makes a stitch on a shirt and that as soon as this shirt is finished, the Alzette will burst its banks, the rocks will collapse and the city of Luxembourg will perish.
The Melusina with her fish tail is one of the most famous landmarks of Luxembourg City, a sculpture is located directly on the bank of the Alzette and she is a popular motif in a wide variety of illustrations.

NOTE - In 1997, Luxembourg used the legend of Melusina already for one of their Europa stamps issued on the theme "Tales and legends"! 

NOTE - The legend of Melusina is also used by France this year on their Europa issue!

 

Guernsey 2022

Guernsey

Date of Issue: 21st May 2022

two stamps (0.79 & 1.10 GBP) out of a set of six stamps, only those two bear the Europa logo

both stamps are also issued in a souvenir-sheet of 2 stamps (0.79 & 1.10 GBP)

both Europa stamps are issued in mini-sheets of 10 stamps

 

 

Vatican 2022

Vatican

Date of Issue: 16th May 2022

two stamps (0.10 & 0.30 €) and 1 souvenir-sheet (1.15 €)

both stamps are issued in mini-sheets of 10 stamps

 

The central theme is the transport of the Egyptian obelisk, which stood on the spine of Caligula's circus, to St Peter's Square, where Pope Sixtus V wanted to erect it. It was to the architect Domenico Fontana that the pope entrusted the task, which was very complex for the time. The objective was achieved by employing nine hundred men and one hundred and forty horses. In addition, in order to facilitate the raising of the heavy monolith, an edict forbade anyone to speak or enter the enclosure delimiting the work area. Violators would be punished with death. Everything went well until, on 10 September 1586, right at the end of the operation, a Ligurian sailor, Bresca da San Remo, realising that the ropes holding up the monument were about to break due to excessive tension, shouted, heedless of the warning: "Water to the ropes". He knew that hemp becomes shorter and more elastic when wet. The manager immediately took up the suggestion and successfully completed the job. The sailor was pardoned: not only did he receive the title of Captain of the First Pontifical Line Regiment, but his family was granted the privilege of supplying the Vatican with the branches used for Palm Sunday.

Norway 2022

Norway

Date of issue: 22nd April 2022 - NOTE those stamps are self-adhesive

two stamps (2x Europa 20g. value = 2x 28.- NOK)

Both stamps are issued in a booklet of 10 stamps (5 of each)

Huldra - A hulder is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. In Norwegian folklore, she is known as huldra. She is known as the skogsrå "forest spirit" or Tallemaja "pine tree Mary" in Swedish folklore, and ulda in Sámi folklore.
Though described as beautiful, the huldra is noted for having a distinctive inhuman feature—an animal's tail (usually a cow's or a fox's) and/or a back resembling a hollowed-out tree. Source Wikipedia

Troll - A troll is a being in Scandinavian folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings.
In later Scandinavian folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they live far from human habitation, are not Christianized, and are considered dangerous to human beings. Depending on the source, their appearance varies greatly; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them.
Trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks in Scandinavian folklore, which at times may be explained as formed from a troll exposed to sunlight. Trolls are depicted in a variety of media in modern popular culture. Source Wikipedia

Armenian post of Nagorno-Karabakh 2022

Armenian post of Nagorno-Karabakh

Date of Issue: 18th April 2022

two stamps (2x 500.- AMD)

those two stamps are issued in mini-sheets of 10 stamps

both stamps are also issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps (5 of each)

NOTE : those 3 types of mini-sheets are also issued in unperforated version

Birth of Vahagn : Vahagn was a god of fire, thunder, and war worshiped in ancient Armenia. Some time during ancient history, he formed a "triad" with Aramazd and Anahit. Vahagn was identified with the Greek deity Heracles. The priests of Vahévahian temple, who claimed Vahagn as their own ancestor, placed a statue of the Greek hero in their sanctuary. In the Armenian translation of the Bible, "Heracles, worshipped at Tyr" is renamed "Vahagn". Source Wikipedia

Hayk and Bel : Hayk was a handsome, friendly man, with curly hair, sparkling eyes, and strong arms. He was a man of giant stature, a mighty archer and fearless warrior. Hayk and his people, from the time of their forefathers Noah and Japheth, had migrated south toward the warmer lands near Babylon. In that land there ruled a wicked giant, Bel. Bel tried to impose his tyranny upon Hayk's people. But proud Hayk refused to submit to Bel. As soon as his son Aramaniak was born, Hayk rose up and led his people northward into the land of Ararad. At the foot of the mountain he built a village and gave it his name, calling Haykashen. Hayk is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. Source Wikipedia

NOTE : Those 2 legends were already depicted by Armenia on their 1997 Europa stamps on the common theme : "Tales and legends"

NOTE : the stamps issued by the Republic of Artsakh aren't recognized on an international level, not by the UPU nor by PostEurop.

Those stamps are listed in most stamps catalogues (Gibbons, Yvert & Tellier, Michel) and most Europa stamps collectors collect those stamps even if they aren't official stamp issues.

Poland 2022

Poland

Date of Issue: 21st of April 2022

one stamp (4.50 PLN)

this stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 9 stamps

The Wawel Dragon (Polish: Smok Wawelski), also known as the Dragon of Wawel Hill, is a famous dragon in Polish folklore.

According to the earliest account (13th century), a dragon plagued the capital city of Kraków established by legendary King Krak. The man-eating monster was being appeased with a weekly ration of cattle, until finally defeated by the king's sons using decoy cows stuffed with sulfur. But the younger prince murdered his elder brother to take sole credit, and was banished afterwards. Consequently Princess Wanda had to succeed the kingdom.

Later in a 15th-century chronicle, the prince-names were swapped, with the elder as "Krak junior" and the younger as Lech. It also credited the king himself with masterminding the carcasses full of sulfur and other reagents. A yet later chronicler (Marcin Bielski, 1597) credited the stratagem to a cobbler named Skub (Skuba), adding that the "Dragon's Cave" (Polish: Smocza Jama) lay beneath Wawel Castle (on Wawel Hill on the bank of the Vistula River). Source : Wikipedia

Latvia 2022

Latvia

Date of Issue: 8th April 2022

two stamps (1.77 & 1.98 €)

 both stamps are issued in mini-sheets of 10 stamps tête-bêche

One of the stamps shows Heavenly Father or God riding a white horse, while the other stamp shows a scene where Heavenly Father feeds the snakes.

There are many different stories about the Heavenly Father in Latvian folklore - in folk songs it is mentioned that he has a wide coat, wears a belt with a sword, a white skirt and a cane, but elsewhere he is also mentioned as a little man. He usually rides a horse, but often also rides in sleighs and carriages, but his horses also appear in other ways - like black dogs, black ravens and black oxen with white horns.

Feeding snakes or reverence for snakes in mythology has been found in many peoples since ancient times - tradition has it that souls appear in the form of snakes. In the past, some mythologists thought that the cult of snakes originated from the cult of souls, but in Latvian mythology, vultures have nothing to do with laundry or souls. All the deities, according to old deceptions, have been able to do good and evil to man, so they have been made favorable in various ways. The only fact is that the ancient Latvians kept the logs as guardians of the cows and that the Milk Mother herself sometimes appeared in the form of a log, maybe also a calf. Source : Latvijas Pasts

Romania 2022

Romania

Date of Issue: 8th April 2022

two stamps (10.- & 16.- RON)

 

both stamps are issued in 2 types of souvenir-sheets of 4 stamps (2 stamps of each). The position of both stamps and the frame is different in each souvenir-sheet.

 both stamps are issued in mini-sheets of 6 stamps

NOTE those stamps are also issued in sheets of 32 stamps with 1 row (4 stamps) of tête-bêche stamps !

 

A limited souvenir-sheet is also issued in a limited number of 313 blocs only. It shows the 2 Europa stamps imperforate

Legend of the Moldavian Aurochs (10.- RON) and the Legend of the “Bull Head” first stamp (16.- RON). - In the northern part of the incomparable Transylvania there is a land of a special beauty: Voivodal Maramures. There, the sky rests on the high towers of wooden churches, to the construction of which unsurpassed craftsmen did not use even an iron nail.

There, the clear springs leap their water over the stone thresholds, humming a mysterious music, taken from the strings of the violins and in the hoot of the alphorns. The people of Maramures, called moroseni, proud, with a pure soul, are the descendants of those who gave the name of the land, the voivodes who made true and lasting history.

In the Land of Maramures there were, in the 14^th century, seven principalities (territories under the jurisdiction of a ruler, called a knyaz, or prince). One of the most important principalities was the one from Cuhea, also known as belonging to the Bogdanesti family. It was located on the Viseu River Valley and on the upper course of the Iza River. In Cuhea was the centre of government and administration, the residence of the voivodal family from which Bogdan I, the founder of Moldavia, was originating.

The principalities had emerged as organized forms of Romanian resistance against Hungarian expansion. The local princes (knyaz), in turn, had elected a voivode of all Romanians in Maramures (Voyvoda Olachorum de Maramurisio).

In this dignity was, in 1343, the legendary Dragos, a pilgrim at the head of an army placed in the service of King Louis of Anjou of Hungary.

A descendant of Carol Robert, Louis continued the policy of expansion, which, at that time, presupposed the stringent removal of the danger of the Tatar invasion from the borders of the kingdom, also accepting as a solution the help of the Romanian voivodes (considered vassals).

In such a situation, accompanied by a cohort of cavalry, voivode Dragos advanced on one of the narrow roads of the secular forests of Bukovina, to the eastern lands, where the vast plains were taken over by the Tartar hordes.

Somewhere, in front of the army, the companion dogs, led by a beautiful specimen of the breed, the female dog Molda, belonging to the voivode, had begun to show signs of impatience, as if urging them to hurry.

After a while, the road began to widen, stopping in a beautiful meadow that bordered the banks of a clear and fast river.

Across the river, an unexpected image unfolded to the soldiers: a big, fierce aurochs staring from under the broad branch of a tree at the dogs, who, standing in a line by the river, were barking angrily, not having the courage to try the cold of the water. Hitting the ground hard with his front legs, the aurochs moved toward the noisy animals. Gushing from the shore alignment, Molda jumped into the river, quickly reaching the opposite bank. The aurochs, a little astonished, slowed down a little, but resumed his walking vigorously when Molda clearly showed the start of the attack. Pulling out furrows of grass, the blow with the horns threw the dog’s body upwards, and the aurochs, as if by a well-thought calculation, found itself immediately on the spot where the dog was about to fall, applying a new blow, this time deadly. Blood rushed to the voivode’s cheeks, and before the soldiers could move, he rode his horse, rushing furiously at the fierce animal. Arriving near the aurochs, the horse turned to the right, avoiding a direct collision. The soldiers had drawn their bows but were afraid to release the arrows for fear of injuring the voivode.

Dragos had hurried away by a short detour and had pulled out his heavy mace with steel fangs. The horse, strongly reined in, headed back towards the aurochs, which, with its head down, almost touching the grass, was moving menacingly towards the rider. For a moment he looked up at the man who had broken his territory. With unusual force, the voivode’s mace was thrown directly at the animal’s forehead. The blood from the wounds was visible and the aurochs’ gait was interrupted in a slow knee. The soldiers, who had meanwhile crossed the river, while sitting in the saddle, threw their short spears at the fallen body, causing it dozens of injuries, through which the animal’s strength drained out with its life.

Reality or legend, the story continued with the burial of Molda and the baptism of the river with the name Molda.

The Tartar armies were defeated and the voivode Dragos would later return to Baia, his royal fortress, where he ordered that the face of the aurochs, which had been killed by him in circumstances
of great danger, to be sewn with gold thread on the princely flags. In the next seven years of his reign, Dragos, Sas (son of Dragos) and Balc (son of Sas) succeeded each other in the seat of little Moldavia. The locals, however, rebelled against the sovereignty imposed by the king of Hungary.

In 1359, supported by Moldavians eager for independence, the voivode Bogdan arrived in Baia. Sas got chased away, and Bogdan became the leader of Greater Moldavia (by adding to Dragos’s Little Moldavia all political parties on the territory of Moldavia).

Exactly 500 years later, in 1859, Greater Moldova would add another country, Muntenia (Wallachia), under the sceptre of a single ruler, Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

The flags of Bogdan I continued to bear the image of the aurochs head, taken over in time by the sculptors who adorned the royal churches with ornaments. Louis of Anjou recognized, after a few lost battles, the exit of Moldavia from under the Crown of Saint Stephen through the Royal Diploma (February 2^nd, 1365).

Almost a century after the enthronement of Bogdan I, on the flags of Moldavia carried by the brave soldiers of Stephen the Great, shone from the fabric of golden threads, the coat of arms of the country having as its central image the Aurochs Head.

History added new documents, arriving in a time in the capital of Moldavia, Iasi in 1858. There and then, in July, the first postage stamps were printed, whose drawing reproduced, next to the post horn, the Bull Head, with a five-pointed star between the horns. The drawing, whose author had never seen an aurochs (this animal had disappeared in the seventeenth century), vaguely reproduces the true image of the wild aurochs, but accustomed to the coat of arms of their country, Moldavians did not respond critically to the lack of veracity of the image.

The appearance of the postage stamp was a surprise for the inhabitants of Moldavia and for the officials of the Post Office, so another inconsistency was overlooked: the inscription of the stamp with the words PORTO SCRISORI instead of FRANCO SCRISORI. (PORTO is the fee paid upon receipt of correspondence, unlike FRANCO, which refers to prepayment, on posting). Source : Romfilatelia

Slovakia 2022

Slovakia

Date of Issue: 2nd May 2022

one stamp (1.50 EUR)

this stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 8 stamps

this stamp is also issued in a booklet (6 stamps) - NOTE the stamps from the booklet are self-adhesive

 

Lomidrevo or Valibuk - Typical Slovak fairytale story about a young man with a heart made of gold overcoming circumstances (and fighting dragons, of course ) to save the day. On this epic road, he learns a lot about people and their nature, about the world, about himself and he also got a stunning princess as his bride. Full story here